Filmmaker Ruchi Narain says she felt angry when some male stars turned down her film "Guilty", which according to producer Karan Johar, may have something to do with their reluctance to be directed by a woman.
The Netflix original, backed by Johar, features Kiara Advani and explores the different versions of truth that emerge when a small-town girl accuses a college heartthrob of rape.
At the film's trailer launch today, Ruchi recalled how she had to struggle to get the right cast.
"We were trying to cast for the film and a lot of the male stars said no. I was so angry. I was talking to Karan and he told me, 'There's really no reason for them to say no to you because the film is really good, you've got a body of work so they should be saying yes but I have a feeling it could be because they aren't comfortable working with a woman filmmaker'.
"I said, I love this film but I'm not going to have a sex change for it. The anger of fuelled me wanting to make this film. That really was the core basis," the director told reporters here.
The filmmaker is best known for writing screenplays of films such as "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" and "Calcutta Mail" and has helmed movies like "Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow" and animation "Hanuman Da' Damdaar".
Ruchi said experience helps one to deal with the gender disparity.
"It is different for a woman and for a man which you learn by observation. At the end of the day, when you want to do something, you find your own way to do it.
"I was always aware there's always going to be another side. If you talk to men, they also sometimes feel that women get an easy pass but we would be like, 'excuse me that doesn't happen'. There's always two sides to an argument, which I wanted to capture in this film."
"Guilty", written by Kanika Dhillon and Atika Chohan, will stream from March 6.
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